A recently formed, Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical company is in the middle of a $15 million equity offering, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing made last week.
Esanex Inc.’s principal place of business is listed as the office of Lilly Ventures, the venture capital firm that spun out of Eli Lilly and Co. in 2009 with $200 million to invest in biotechnology, health IT and converged medical technologies.
Lilly Ventures partner Steven Hall is listed in the filing as the president and CEO of Esanex, and Lilly Ventures Managing Director Ed Torres is listed as an executive officer and director.
Esanex, which was formed in 2011, is apparently keeping details of its technology under wraps for now. It doesn’t have a website, and an email inquiry sent to Hall wasn’t returned. Previously, Hall co-founded cancer therapeutic company Serenex Inc., which was acquired by Pfizer in 2008, and it looks like he brought some of his colleagues with him for this venture.
Paul Howard of Mediaphase Venture Partners (also a former Serenex board member), Richard Kent of Intersouth Partners (former CEO of Serenex) and Richard Miller, who is listed at the address of Ritchie Capital Management, are also named as directors of Esanex.
Three investors have contributed $4.6 million to the round so far, according to the filing.
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By Deanna Pogorelc MedCity News
Deanna Pogorelc is a Cleveland-based reporter who writes obsessively about life science startups across the country, looking to technology transfer offices, startup incubators and investment funds to see what’s next in healthcare. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ball State University and previously covered business and education for a northeast Indiana newspaper.More posts by Author
Esanex just gave a clue as to their next steps - see my blog post for details: http://www.hsp90central.com/1/post/2012/05/is-the-serenex-gang-getting-back-together-for-another-run-at-hsp90.html